Men's Ice Hockey

De Filippo Featured in Providence Journal

Oct 19, 2012

R.I. HOCKEY REPORT

From Italian Alps to College Hillby Mark Divver

He started playing hockey at age 6, often skating outdoors in the remote mountain town where he grew up. He left home as a teenager to play in Montreal, then moved on to Kent, the Connecticut prep school. Now he is in the Ivy League.

Not such an unusual path for a college hockey player.

Except for one thing.

Brown University junior goalie Marco De Filippo isn't from some isolated Quebec hamlet where hockey is a religion. He's not from a farming community on the Saskatchewan plains or a mining town on Minnesota's Iron Range. In fact, he's not from any of the usual places that produce hockey players.

De Filippo's hometown is Auronzo Di Cadore, a town of 3,500 in the Italian Alps.

Brown assistant Mike Sousa, who played pro hockey in Italy for five years, knows better than anyone just how remarkable De Filippo's story is. When Sousa was hired last year, he told Whittet and assistant Mark White, "You guys probably don't quite understand how amazing it is that he's actually here."